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Chamonix Activity Report: 31st July 2005

featured in Activity reviews Author Ellie Mahoney, Chamonix Editor Updated

Chamonix valley keeps a reduced lift system open outside the winter season. It serves as an effortless way for tourists to take in the views, a jump start up for hikers wanting to explore the high alpine, as well as a means to get your bike up to the top of very long steep mountain bike trails. For this half-day mountain bike trip we opted for Le Tour. The trails here, as with the ski trails, are less steep than other areas.

If you drive out to Chamonix it is easy enough to strap a bike to the car. If however you fly, it may not be as easy. I have seen bikes come through at airports before but you would have to check with your particular airline in advance.

If you don't bring your own bike it's not a problem as there are several shops in town that hire out bikes with a variety of specs and priced accordingly between 10 and 45 euros per day. The best bike I have seen for hire is a Kona full suspension freeride model. The terrain here is hardgoing and I don't think you'd even be able to grip a pint of beer after a descent without at least a good front suspension bike. Disc brakes are great (if only to see them hiss when you pour water on them after a long run) but if the trails are dry then they're not essential. What is essential however, is a helmet - full face is preferable. Other safety gear, depending on how adventurous you think you're likely to be, would be gloves and knee/shin pads going up to elbow pads and a back protector. All of which can be picked up in town.

Le Tour is a stunning spot in the summer with all the wild flowers in place of pistes, we saw our first marmot but he was too quick to gain photographic evidence. Not remotely fast or camera shy are the mountain cows who definitely believe they have priority on any mountain trail.

It costs 9.50 euros for a one way ticket up the Charamillon gondola and Col de Balme chairlft. Each accent on the chairlift thereafter costs 2 euros. You turn left at the top of the chair for the easier route which is easy to follow and a real blast. The second half has some pretty large loose stones in places which make it possible to come a cropper at speed. This brings you back to the bottom of the chair. If you turn right at the top of the chair the route is marked ‘difficult' and I think this refers to the ease of finding the trail. It's pretty much pick your own way straight down.

All in all a good morning out and I wished I had taken my own advice about the knee pads. The trails marked for mountain bikes (VTT) are limited. People don't seem to stick to these alone but whatever you do, courtesy should be given to hikers (slow down and a quick ‘bonjour' never goes amiss).

Useful Information
Cross-country skiing is Closed
Piste Maps for Chamonix (pdf format), Les Houches (jpg format), Cross-country skiing (pdf format), and Mountain-bike trails (pdf format)
Current status for opening of Pistes & Lifts
Chamonix Webcam Index

We will be keeping this Chamonix snow report updated often during the season, but if you want even more up-to-date news on the ski conditions, why not sign up for our Dump Alert? We'll email you each time it snows enough to significantly change the skiing conditions. It's great to know that the snow is falling in the run-up to your holiday, and it might even allow you to book a last-minute weekend when the snow is particularly good. The service is free, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like.

Useful Links
Swiss Federal Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research
French Avalanche Research Institute
Meteo France - Mountain weather and avalanche conditions bulletins (in French)
Henry's Avalanche Talk - popular avalanche training sessions based in French Alps as well as translation of current avalanche conditions
PisteHors.com - Backcountry Skiing and Snowboarding News in English for the French Alps. Excellent coverage of avalanche safety and advice

Additional snow and weather information provided, with thanks, by meteo.chamonix.com and the Tourist Office